Last quarter PayPal and Deloitte both made headlines for bold moves.
One is resourcing its CEO by hiring for a new role- “Head of CEO Content”.
The other is resourcing a team member by going all in on one of their leading analysts who has become a leading voice- and pivoting her title and role to their official “Corporate Influencer”.
So, what does this mean?
Both are signaling the same truth: today, visibility is about VIABILITY, not virality.
But also- Influencer marketing is an inside job now.
Organizations large and small are quickly adapting and allocating serious resources and budgets toward amplifying the people behind their logos.
“Head of CEO Content”, “Corporate Influencer”, internal corporate ambassador networks, founder-led brands.
These moves aren’t about “content.” They’re about 21st century infrastructure — modernizing the way brands are discovered, earn trust, build authority, and maintain a competitive advantage.
In this article, I’m breaking down the similarities and differences in these two approaches for competing in a hybrid marketplace and leveraging personal branding as a business tool.
When PayPal’s job posting for a “Head of CEO Content” hit LinkedIn, the internet lost its collective mind. Why the viral reaction?
Because of what this role represents beyond the mainstreaming of personal branding as corporate strategy.
This was about the demonstration of thought leadership as a high-value executive skillset worth serious investment- the role was listed alongside a $200,000+ salary!
For me, personal branding as a corporate strategy wasn’t shocking; it was inevitable. However, bringing full-time content talent in-house signaled something BIG.
As the tools for content creation become increasingly cheap and commoditized, truly talented storytellers who understand how to engage audiences and control narratives are not.
And while "the content creator" has typically been an outside vendor or freelancer, bringing the role in-house and imbedding talented storytellers within an organization speaks to advantages in:
PayPal's recent viral headlines were quickly followed by another hammer. Enter Deloitte’s "Corporate Influencer", Lara Sophie Bothur.
The most noteworthy aspect of this story is that Lara didn’t become Deloitte’s “influencer” through recruitment or development- she already was one.
While fulfilling her role as a Business Analyst in the Innovation Consulting Division of Deloitte Germany, Lara independently developed her personal brand and thought leadership content, positioning herself as an influential voice that was already driving measurable business opportunities and tangible results for the firm.
Deloitte was simply smart enough to catch on- and bold enough to double down.
By creating a dedicated role and resourcing Lara to focus exclusively on content creation and brand ambassadorship, Deloitte validated something I’ve been saying for years.
The way we discover, learn, make decisions, and buy has fundamentally changed due to social media. And this is true for EVERY sector, not just for lifestyle, luxury, or consumer goods.
In fact, Quest Diagnostics released a study in 2024 that 1 in 4 Americans turn to social media for medical information- a stat that increases by 40% for Gen Z and Millennials.
Whenever I share this in my talks, many scoff because the immediate connotation is something along the lines of a “mom-influencer” in her kitchen with essential oils. Not the doctor with a personal brand. Yet, doctors are one of the fastest growing sectors for personal branding and the practices that are winning are the ones with strong personal brands at the forefront.
The fact remains that today, not only are we discovering online, but we’re learning, forging connection, and building trust online through content, specifically Thought Leadership content.
The higher the demand for trust, the more essential Thought Leadership becomes, because in a hybrid marketplace, trust is built before someone even speaks to you.
I should note that Thought Leadership is powering more than brand awareness, brand equity, inbound leads, and sales enablement. It’s having a halo effect of tangible impact that spans recruitment, retention, succession, culture, investor perception, and more.
Deloitte understands that the ROI of authentic, internal influence is massive, measurable, and scalable.
I don’t believe Lara will be the only Corporate Influencer- we’ll see a full department build out of internal ambassadors who are developed, resourced, and catapulted in ways that will attract incredible talent and build strong recruitment pipelines as personal brand development becomes positioned as the 21st century employee benefit.
I also don't believe Deloitte will be the only organization to modernize their marketing approach.
Companies will begin to run a more relevant playbook, building internal ambassador coalitions of authentic voices from within who function as trusted representatives of the brand.
We’ve entered “influencer marketing 2.0,” except the influencers are your own people- or better yet, yourself.
I think it will be interesting to see how founder or C-suite influence compares to the influence of these internal ambassador teams.
A CEO’s voice has strategic value, yes, but the cumulative trust built by dozens of employees sharing authentic, on-brand insights? That creates capacity for exponential trust and influence.
Overall, these headlines send a clear signal: content isn’t just communication- it’s capital.
Gone are the days when Thought Leadership content was a “nice-to-have.” A blog article here, a video there. Just enough to say, “We’re active on LinkedIn!”
In a hybrid marketplace, visibility is viability, and the organizations that invest in developing and resourcing this 21st century skillset will win.
Because in a world where social networking has evolved into social media, and social media is compromised by AI, a Thought Leader’s curated content provides the filter and context we all desperately seek with information overload and extreme accessibility.
In addition, a Thought Leader’s curated audience becomes a destination- a supercharged ecosystem to discover and be discovered.
Organizations who understand this and harness the power of Thought Leadership are impacting everything from brand equity, investor perception, employee engagement, and even stock market confidence.
As the Cofounder of The Daily Drip, a media platform powered entirely by Thought Leadership, I’ve long seen this shift coming and consistently tried to fill this critical (and growing) skill gap- first with our professional membership community and now this year, with our onsite team training and development programs.
Because over the course of our 5 years in business, one thing has become clear.
Thought Leadership is a 21st century skill that today’s marketplace demands and Thought Leadership itself will evolve just as fast as the world around us. We intend to stay at the forefront.
If this is a focus for you and your organization, I'd love for you to join my upcoming virtual masterclass How to Build Influence that Drives Results on Wednesday Jan 14th at noon for 2026 personal brand strategies you and your team can start implementing NOW.
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